


nobody knows how to get back home

by mariette



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Confused Bucky, Flashbacks, Fluff, M/M, Past Bucky Barnes/Steve Rogers, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, sappy Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 16:32:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13252173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariette/pseuds/mariette
Summary: As soon as he saw his eyes, his heart dropped.Steve keeps getting flowers sent to his house and he has no idea who's doing it.





	nobody knows how to get back home

**Author's Note:**

> I write so much pre-serum Steve Rogers and young Brooklyn Boys that I forgot how much I dig writing post- TWS

The flowers had been arriving for weeks. At first, Steve thought that maybe they'd been coming from his elderly neighbor lady. He often helps her carry in her groceries and about a month ago she bought a new sofa that he carried in and set up for her. When the flowers first came he thought they were from her. Unfortunately, they weren't and though he was curious about who sent them he put it at the back of his mind. But they never stopped coming.

 

He thought that maybe Natasha or Sam were playing a prank on him. He confronted them but they were as confused as he was. Even though Sam’s response was something along the lines of “If I had the kind of money to send you 50 bouquets of flowers just to fuck with you I would have done it a long time ago”. At this point Steve was just downright frustrated. Peggy was gone so  _ she  _ couldn't be sending them. Sharon was… well their relationship didn't end well so she certainly wasn't sending them either. Maybe somehow someone he saved had sent them to his home? Even though his address is kept pretty secretive people around his neighborhood knows who he is but no one has come forward yet.

 

The day finally came where he didn't think twice about the person who was sending the flowers. Instead he just basked in how beautiful and floral it smelled in his apartment. Whoever was sending them sure didn't falter on types. There were reds, blues, violets, yellows. Roses, lilies, sunflowers, poppies. If someone didn't know any better they'd think Steve ran a floral shop out of his home.

 

Nothing was special about the day. Steve went out on his morning run, made himself a ridiculously protein packed breakfast, and caught himself up with the news. A brand new task introduced into him routine was watering his abundance of flowers. As he walked around with a small watering can in hand he thought back to his childhood home. His mother in particular.

 

_ “Mom why do you bring home so many flowers?” Steve asked. His mother was walking around the living area sprinkling the flowers with water. Today there were three large bouquets at the base of their fireplace. _

 

_ “Well, when my patients pass away often the family doesn't care about what to do with the flowers that were left for them while they were alive. I take it upon myself to bring them home and keep a little life in this place. Do you not like them?” She asked. Steve shook his head. _

 

_ “No they're pretty. Can we put some in my room?” He asked. _

 

_ “Sure can. Pick whichever one you want,” she said. _

 

_ It wasn't a difficult decision for him to make. He grabbed the flourishing red and blue bouquet and ran to his room with it. As he was in there a knock was heard at the door. _

 

_ “Steve! Bucky is here,” he heard his mother say. Steve poked his head out of his bedroom door and sure enough there was his best friend toeing off his shoes at the entrance. _

 

_ “Bucky! Look what mom let me have!” _

 

Steve smiled at the memory. It made him wonder why he never got flowers for his apartment until now. After his mother passed away it was his favorite part of the week, shopping for flowers to keep her spirit alive in the apartment.

 

A knock at the door abruptly threw Steve out of his thought process. It wasn't uncommon for him to be constantly on edge. He was ready at any given moment to get into a defensive position and fight. Came with the job he supposes, even a little knock throws him through a loop. He let himself relax, though. As he stepped toward the door he looked through the peephole to see who was on the other side. All he was met with were flower petals. That was odd, the flowers were always just left outside his door no one ever dropped them off. He opened the door cautiously still not sure about the entire situation.

 

As soon as he saw his eyes, his heart dropped.

 

“Bucky?” He asked.

 

There behind a huge bouquet of pink pansies stood Bucky. An unshaven, kind of musty smelling Bucky but it was him nonetheless.

 

“I don’t remember what your favorite fucking color is,” he said. He wasn't making eye contact with Steve. He only looked down at the flowers glaring at them almost as if he were trying to set them on fire with his gaze.

 

“You've been sending me these?” Steve asked. He wasn't sure what else to say. Where have you been for the last few months? I've been searching the entire city for you? I miss you? None of it seemed like the right thing to say when Bucky was standing there in the flesh, right in front of him. Steve knew better but he wished he could reach out and touch him just to be sure he wasn't dreaming.

 

“What you don't like them?” He asked finally locking eyes with Steve. They were cold and distant, but Steve saw what he was looking for in them if only for a brief second. That little sliver of time where he saw the pain, the disappointment, the  _ desperation _ .

 

“I… you…” he trailed off. The longer he stalled the more likely it was for Bucky to grow uncomfortable and vanish for months on end again. He wasn't going to let this chance go.

 

“Come in,” he said.

 

“Why flowers?” Bucky asked. Steve had just sat down after handing Bucky a glass of water. To Steve's surprise it didn't take much convincing getting him in the apartment.

 

“Huh?” Steve asked taken back by the sudden question.

 

“Why is it that every time I think of your name or see your face on the news all I can see in my head is you and fuckin flowers? You like them right? Why do you like them?” He asked. He seemed agitated with himself.

 

“Yeah, love them actually,” Steve said. He was watching Bucky carefully and this seemed to calm his nerves. A little.

 

“But  _ why _ ?” He asked. He seemed desperate to know. Steve was smart enough to put together that Bucky was trying to ground himself. Find Bucky Barnes in him and not just The Winter Soldier. It must be a hard battle to fight because Bucky looked tired.

 

“Ma always had em’ around. You used to help rearrange the bouquets you know. Your favorites were the sunflowers,” Steve said. Bucky noticeably relaxed then. He sat and stared off into the distance as if he were in a trance. Steve kept himself still. He didn't want to interrupt whatever process his best friend was going through.

 

“You always put some in your room,” he said finally.

 

“You called me a pansy for it,” Steve replied.

 

“Well you were.”

 

There it was. That brief two seconds where Steve heard the rough yet bubbling voice of his best friend. He was still in there scratching at the surface pushing himself out of his shell. It made Steve's heart skip a beat.

 

“Yeah well I still liked it,” he said laughing. He thought he saw Bucky smile a little but it was gone before he could be sure.

 

“What's your favorite color then? Did I get it right?” He asked. Steve looked over at the solid blue bouquet sitting on his windowsill. It was the first one he'd received and even before he knew Bucky was the sender it's the one he adored the most.

 

“Really? I could have stopped after that one!” Bucky exclaimed.

 

“I'm glad you didn't,” Steve said.

 

He could have told Bucky that it was his favorite because it reminded him of his best friend’s eyes. He could have said he loved it because that was the exact type of flower Bucky would take to his mother's grave when they visited. He could have said that the reason sunflowers were Bucky's favorite was because they reminded him of Steve's golden hair. He could have said it all and he almost did. But he thought about the little victory he had today. Bucky in his apartment, personally delivering flowers, asking him questions… He decided that he'd wait until Bucky was ready to ask. He'd wait forever if he had to.


End file.
